How Selective Colleges Really Are
Want to know how selective colleges really are? Below is a VERY (That’s with a capital v, e, r and y) long list of factual data on just how selective college truly are. You’ll see exactly how many applications they received and how many students they admitted. Equally interesting is how selective the students are. For example, you’ll see a school that received over 10,000 applications and admitted nearly 8,000 but less than 1,000 enrolled. You see, colleges like to maintain a mystique of being the gate keeper to an elite organization that only a select few will gain entrance into their exclusive club.
The truth is, which many admissions folks won’t openly admit, they want you as much, if not more than you want them. The evidence is in the numbers. And it is a numbers game. The rules are, get as many applicants as possible so we can select the top X% and refuse admission to the rest. Using that equation (Don’t worry, I’ll do the math for you.) If a school receives 10,000 applications and accepts the top 50%, they accept 5,000 students. Now compute the acceptance to enrolled factor. Let’s say for the this example it’s 25%. that would give our example school an enrolling class of 1,250 new students. Perfect number to fill all seats, employ all faculty and staff and add to their new student union fund. Now let’s flip the script on this school. What if they only get 5,000 applications this year. Using the same formula, that means only 675 new students. Much too low for their plans. What happens? If nothing else changed, most schools would be forced to lower their admission standards and accept a MUCH higher rate of students, say 90%.
While some counselors will advise more applications to increase your odds of acceptance, the truth is, be selective and you’ll increase everyone’s odds. If you truly have no plan to attend, do waste your time or money. You shouldn’t put much weight into “fallback” colleges. Going to college for the sake of going to college may not be your best option. College is quite possibly the biggest investment you’ll make in yourself. If your top schools don’t accept you, you may want to reconsider your options, i.e.: starting at an inexpensive community college and transferring in after a year.
And without further ado, here is the definitive list of how selective colleges really are:
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| Institution name | Number of applicants | Number admitted | Number admitted who enrolled | Percent of applicants admitted | Percent of admitted who enrolled | Reporting period |
| Abilene Christian University | 10188 | 4986 | 1030 | 48.9% | 20.7% | Fall 2013 |
| Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College | 1567 | 1111 | 887 | 70.9% | 79.8% | Fall 2013 |
| Adams State University | 2658 | 1398 | 519 | 52.6% | 37.1% | Fall 2013 |
| Adelphi University | 8654 | 5897 | 918 | 68.1% | 15.6% | Fall 2013 |
| Adrian College | 4675 | 2631 | 496 | 56.3% | 18.9% | Fall 2013 |
| Adventist University of Health Sciences | 2110 | 282 | 59 | 13.4% | 20.9% | Fall 2013 |
| Agnes Scott College | 1340 | 896 | 254 | 66.9% | 28.3% | Fall 2013 |
| AIB College of Business | 424 | 292 | 184 | 68.9% | 63.0% | Fall 2013 |
| Alabama A & M University | 6142 | 5521 | 1104 | 89.9% | 20.0% | Fall 2013 |
| Alabama State University | 10245 | 5251 | 1479 | 51.3% | 28.2% | Fall 2012 |
| Alaska Bible College | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| Alaska Pacific University | 494 | 185 | 33 | 37.4% | 17.8% | Fall 2013 |
| Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences | 1601 | 1015 | 246 | 63.4% | 24.2% | Fall 2013 |
| Albany State University | 8250 | 1643 | 501 | 19.9% | 30.5% | Fall 2012 |
| Albertus Magnus College | 689 | 470 | 132 | 68.2% | 28.1% | Fall 2013 |
| Albion College | 4430 | 2498 | 346 | 56.4% | 13.9% | Fall 2013 |
| Albright College | 6060 | 3776 | 655 | 62.3% | 17.3% | Fall 2013 |
| Alcorn State University | 2265 | 1878 | 575 | 82.9% | 30.6% | Fall 2013 |
| Alderson Broaddus University | 4892 | 2114 | 438 | 43.2% | 20.7% | Fall 2013 |
| Alfred University | 3417 | 2385 | 535 | 69.8% | 22.4% | Fall 2013 |
| Alice Lloyd College | 3656 | 1646 | 189 | 45.0% | 11.5% | Fall 2013 |
| Allegheny College | 4512 | 2927 | 604 | 64.9% | 20.6% | Fall 2013 |
| Allegheny Wesleyan College | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| Allen College | 4 | 2 | 1 | 50.0% | 50.0% | Fall 2013 |
| Allen University | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| Alliant International University | 128 | 63 | 28 | 49.2% | 44.4% | Fall 2013 |
| Alma College | 2699 | 1833 | 376 | 67.9% | 20.5% | Fall 2013 |
| Alvernia University | 1792 | 1391 | 389 | 77.6% | 28.0% | Fall 2013 |
| Alverno College | 582 | 459 | 208 | 78.9% | 45.3% | Fall 2013 |
| Amberton University | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| American Baptist College | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| American Indian College of the Assemblies of God Inc | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| American International College | 1928 | 1307 | 346 | 67.8% | 26.5% | Fall 2013 |
| American Jewish University | 100 | 59 | 23 | 59.0% | 39.0% | Fall 2013 |
| American Musical and Dramatic Academy | 2877 | 749 | 477 | 26.0% | 63.7% | Fall 2012 |
| American Samoa Community College | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| American University | 17545 | 7566 | 1627 | 43.1% | 21.5% | Fall 2013 |
| American University of Puerto Rico | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| American University of Puerto Rico | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| Amherst College | 7927 | 1132 | 466 | 14.3% | 41.2% | Fall 2013 |
| Amridge University | – | – | – | – | – | N/A |
| Anderson University | 2734 | 1516 | 444 | 55.4% | 29.3% | Fall 2013 |
| Anderson University | 2190 | 1424 | 502 | 65.0% | 35.3% | Fall 2013 |
| Andrews University | 2551 | 957 | 388 | 37.5% |